To begin with, Dr. John Roberts faces an ethical dilemma about whether to maintain patient confidentiality or disclose his patient’s intention to harm others.

Overview

The final project for this course is the creation of a case study analysis. The final project represents an authentic demonstration of competency. This competency is shown by the development of specific skill sets, including the following: case study identification, understanding ethical conflict in psychology-related work settings, increased knowledge of the origin and rationale for ethics orientation in the psychology profession, specific knowledge of the core ethical principles that govern professional behavior, an overview of specific standards as they apply to sub-specialties in psychology, a practical model for ethical decision making, and consideration of alternative decision-making models. The project is divided into four milestones, which will be submitted at various points throughout the course to scaffold learning and ensure quality final submissions. These milestones will be submitted in Modules One, Three, Five, and Seven. The final project will be submitted in Module Nine.

By understanding the ethical principles of the psychology profession, you will learn how to inform your decision making when it comes to protecting and serving the populations you serve. It is also important that the contemporary psychologist be able to address issues that are unique to their time. Some of these challenges ask you to reconsider ethical frameworks and to be more precise in the language you use to define ethical decision making. This course allows you to explore and apply important ethical concepts to potential situations. These skills are essential for proper behavior in the psychology profession.

This assessment addresses the following course outcomes:

• Assess the impact of the current and emerging ethical codes on the practice of psychology for their influence in developing ethical decision-making strategies
• Assess the influence of culture and social orientations on the development and practice of ethical standards of conduct for consideration when developing ethical strategies
• Distinguish between ethically supported and ethically unsupported strategies for resolving ethical dilemmas in practice
• Develop strategies for incorporating empathy for diverse perspectives into ethically responsible practices
• Develop strategies for evaluating and resolving ethical dilemmas that integrate ethical decision-making models

Prompt

The summative assignment for this course is a case study analysis. The case study is one way for you to showcase the skill sets you have learned in this course coupled with your area of professional interest. You will choose a case study from a pre-determined list. You should choose a case study that is relevant to your concentration or a particular career field in which you are interested in working. You will utilize codes of ethics pertinent to your chosen area of interest in psychology to approach this case study analysis. You will develop an ethical strategy for addressing the ethical issues present in your case study and analyze your strategy for how it relates to important ethical concepts in psychology. Your case study choice, including the ethical conflict in the case study, will be submitted once for peer and instructor review and then be resubmitted as a developing case study analysis following feedback that incorporates suggestions.

Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:

1. Introduction: For this part of the assessment, begin your case study analysis by examining the many factors that influence codes of ethics in psychology.
   1. Summarize the chosen case study. Be sure to include the important people and key interactions in the case study. This will be used later in your analysis.
   2. Assess culture and social orientation and their influence on ethical behavior and the existing codes of conduct. Be sure to provide examples to support your claims.
   3. Assess how interactions between the important roles (client, psychologist, researcher, participant) in psychology are influenced by culture and social orientation and how that influence informs ethical conduct in psychology.
   4. When making ethical decisions in your chosen area of concentration, how would you decide whether an ethical strategy is supported or unsupported? In other words, what criteria should professionals in your selected concentration or area of interest use to determine which opinions on ethics to consider in shaping their response to the particular situation?
   5. How do contemporary problems impact the need for reconsidering supported opinions on ethics in your concentration or chosen area of interest in psychology? Be sure to provide examples to support your claims.
2. Ethical Analysis: For this part of the assessment, use the Eight-Step Ethical Decision-Making Model to show how you would resolve the conflicts or ethical issues in your case study.
   1. Describe the ethical issues in your chosen ethical scenario and relate the issues to the important people identified previously. You might consider the following: What are the questions you wish to answer and the ethical issue that must be addressed?
   2. Develop an ethical strategy for your chosen scenario using an Eight-Step analysis to address the ethical issues. Be sure to explain how your ethical strategy follows supported ethical guidelines. You might consider the following: What steps would you take to address the issue? What ethical principles and standards inform this strategy?
   3. Assess how your strategy differs from an opposing ethical strategy that could be used to address this situation and justify why your strategy would be preferable. Be sure to explain whether the opposing strategy follows supported ethical guidelines. You might consider the following: What other principles or standards could be implemented? What counterarguments may arise in response to your strategy? How would you answer them?
   4. Assess your strategy for how it addresses ethical problems associated with multiple role relationship issues. You might consider the following: Does your strategy consider the appropriateness of the different relationships psychologists can have with clients?
   5. Assess your strategy for how it addresses ethical problems associated with multicultural competence issues. You might consider the following: Does your strategy consider issues of diversity and culture with regard to your chosen ethical issue?
   6. Assess your strategy for your chosen ethical scenario for how it aligns with current and emerging ethical codes in your chosen area of interest on the practice of psychology in your concentration or area of interest. You might consider the following: How does your strategy follow more modern opinions on ethics? How does your strategy reflect that ethics in psychology is not stagnant?
3. Conclusion: For this part of the assessment, develop a conclusion explaining the different influences on your own strategy. Be sure to incorporate peer and instructor feedback you have received in order to properly reflect on your strategy.
   1. Explain the influence of culture and social orientation on the development of your ethical strategy. You might consider the following: What cultural implications did you feel you had to consider when developing your strategy?
   2. Explain the influence of diversity and equality on the development of your ethical strategy. You might consider the following: What diversity and equality issues were in the ethical scenario, and how were they addressed? How did this influence your thought process and decisions while developing your ethical strategy? 
   3. Explain how controversial issues in ethics have shaped emerging ideas in ethics. Be sure to provide your thoughts on this and how the development of your strategy was or was not influenced by controversial issues. You might consider the following: Did you follow a strictly traditional model, or did you use a more modern approach? How did this influence your thought process and decisions while developing your ethical strategy?
   4. Explain how your strategy could be changed to further address issues of multiple role relationships and justify your claims. In what ways does your strategy lack in its consideration of multiple role relationships?
   5. Explain how your strategy could be changed to further address issues of multicultural competence and justify your claims. In what ways does your strategy lack in its consideration of multicultural competence?
   6. Develop a conclusion summarizing your ethical strategy and how you believe it could be implemented to solve the chosen ethical scenario.

Milestones

Milestone One: Case Study Selection
In Module One, you will select a case study in your area of interest to analyze for your final project, the Case Study Analysis. In the Case Study Selection discussion, you will identify your selected case study, describe your interest in the case, and identify the central ethical conflict. This milestone will be graded with the Milestone One Rubric.

Milestone Two: Case Study Summary 
In Module Three, you will write a summary of your chosen case study, including important people and key interactions. You will assess the culture and social orientation and their influence on the case and examine the ethical conflict of the case.  This milestone will be graded with the Milestone Two Rubric.

Milestone Three: Applying the APA Code of Ethics
In Module Five, you will describe the ethical issues in your chosen case, apply the APA Code of Ethics to your chosen case, and identify and explain the cultural and social considerations in your chosen case.  This milestone will be graded with the Milestone Three Rubric.

Milestone Four: The Ethical Decision-Making Process
In Module Seven, you will list the eight-step ethical decision-making model, discuss an alternative or opposing model of decision-making, and put your case study conflict through the eight-step model. This milestone will be graded with the Milestone Four Rubric.

Final Submission: Case Study Analysis
In Module Nine, you will submit your final project. It should be a complete, polished artifact containing all of the critical elements of the final project. It should incorporate feedback gained throughout the course. This submission will be graded with the Final Project Rubric.

What to Submit

The case study analysis paper should be in APA format.